My Associate, My Brother
by DjDangerLove
Summary: A collection of  brotherly love one-shots. No slash!
1. Stuff Crust Pizza

**My love for writing brotherly love one-shots has increased since Suits doesn't come back on until Summer. So instead of posting multiple stories, I'm just going to post them under one. This will consist of all different types of one-shots.**

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it.**

"Please let me go with you!" Mike Ross begged of his boss, Harvey Specter. The younger lawyer had pleaded with the older man, tried every bargaining chip he held, every trick in the book, besides getting down on his knees. He was contemplating doing just that when he saw Harvey stand up from his desk, buttoning his suit jacket as he prepared to leave.

"For the seventy-third and final time, no. You can not come. You're not ready, yet. So hold on to the ounce of pride and dignity you still have, and DO NOT get down on your knees and beg me, because it will only prove my reasoning for leaving you behind in the first place."

Mike made a disbelieving sound and held his arm out to the side. "Harvey! In the last week, I've been at home for a grand total of eleven hours, and six of those hours I was still hunched over paperwork, trying not to spill stale chinese takeout on them! All the other hours of the week, I've been here! I had to hook up a tiny fan at my cubicle and put one of those tree-shaped air fresheners around it to make myself feel like I was getting fresh air, other wise my suffocated corpse would be rotting under my desk right now and no one would notice until Harold realized that putting on half a bottle of cheap cologne actually has the opposite effect!"

Harvey rolled his eyes and walked to the door. "Mike." Harvey said, turning to face his associate one last time. His tone was exasperated, but it sounded as if was about to pride Mike for his hard work. Mike looked at him with anticipation.

"I found soy sauce stains on three pages of the Reid briefs. You're staying here." Harvey opened the door and stepped out, but turned around. "If you're not here when I get back, I'll make sure you don't leave this building for the next two weeks."

With that, Harvey closed his office door and left to go to his client meeting, leaving a starving, sleep-deprived associate with cabin (more like Pearson Hardman) fever.

* * *

><p>Mike had been reading files for three hours straight and his eyes were starting to cross. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pinched the bridge of his nose. He leaned back on the couch in Harvey's office, which he convinced Donna to let him sit there about an hour ago by telling her that he was going to ride his bike into a busy street the moment he was able to leave, if he didn't get away from the other associates.<p>

He closed his eyes, only for a second, he was sure. But when he opened his eyes, he wondered how Harvey managed to appear so fast.

* * *

><p>Harvey exited the elevator and walked around the corner, greeting Donna as he reached her desk. She greeted him, not taking her eyes off her computer until Harvey cleared his throat.<p>

"Yes?" She asked deadpanned.

"Why is Mike asleep on my couch?" He asked, staring into his office.

Donna looked back to see Mike in a dead like sleep, then turned back to Harvey. She tilted her head to the side and smiled a devious smile.

"Why are you holding a pizza box when you just came from a five-star restaurant?"

Harvey didn't even acknowledge her question. Instead, he walked into his office, walked over to the couch and dropped the steaming box of pizza onto Mike's sleeping form, getting the desired rude awakening he was aiming for.

Mike jumped and sat straight up, the pizza box sliding to the floor, but thankfully not spilling out. He sat down at his desk and watched Mike rub a hand through his hair and rub the sleep out of his eyes. Mike looked at him, but he waited until the younger man's eyes widened in realization before speaking.

"Have a nice nap?"

"Uhhh...I closed my eyes for a second. I swear, I just-"

"Yeah, I get it." Harvey replied cutting off the excuses. He watched as Mike pick up the pizza box and set it on his lap, eyeing it suspiciously.

"It is pizza and you eat it." Harvey said slowly, as if Mike didn't speak English.

"No shit, Sherlock. How did it get here?" Mike asked, lifting up the lid.

"Elementary, my dear Watson." Harvey smirked. "I brought it."

Mike's mouth hung open in shock, though his eyes were still glued to the pizza. He picked a slice up and took a bite. He made a deliciously, satisfied noise as he chewed, but stopped short in his marvel as he eyed the crust.

"It's stuff-crust!" He exclaimed, happily. He looked at Harvey for the first time since opening his pizza. "I love you." He stated his fraternal love and gratefulness, then took a bite out of the crust and marveled at its deliciousness.

Harvey rolled his eyes at his associate, but couldn't help but smile. He would never admit it, but Mike deserved at least his favorite pizza for all his hard work. He started making notes on one of the files he was reading over, but suddenly had a thought. Without looking up, he warned, "If you get pizza sauce on my couch, I'll break your fingers."

He didn't hear a response, but he heard movement. Without moving his head, he raised his eyes to look at his associate, who was looking at the spot on the couch beside him then moved over an inch in its direction. He looked back up and noticed Harvey looking at him. Mike tried to place an innocent expression on his face, but Harvey saw right through it, knowing full well his warning had been too late. Harvey just shook his head and sighed.

Two minutes later, he noticed Mike was still eating pizza and he eyed the box. Counting the remaining pieces, which didn't take long since there was only three left, he stood up from his desk, pulled something from a bag beside his desk and walked over to Mike. He saw the younger man shrink back into the couch as he stood over him and laughed, before tossing an apple at his associate and grabbing up the pizza box taking it away from Mike.

"Wha'?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"Earlier today, you complained that you were practically starving to death. Now that I have fed you, I refuse to be the reason you die of a heart attack in the next month by letting you eat whole stuff-crust extra-cheese pizzas for dinner. Eat that damn apple, before Donna comes in here and chews my ass out."

Mike glared at him.

"I'm perfectly healthy, thank you very much."

"Yes, I can see that by the dark circles under you eyes, the fact that you fell asleep at one in the afternoon, the way you ate a box of pizza like you were in an eating contest and Donna's morning greeting of "Good morning, Harvey. Here's your mail. Oh, and another one of Mike's ribs is showing through his shirt today, three more and the firm is going to start a foundation for him." Harvey titled his head to the side with an expression on his face that said 'Tell me I'm wrong.'

"Okay, okay. I get it!" Mike said, tossing his apple up in the air and catching it like he usually does with the baseball on Harvey's desk. "You care."

"No." Harvey stated as if he truly didn't. "I brought you that pizza, so the next time you try to beg me for something and say I owe you one, because I left you behind when I went to a client meeting, I'll remind you that I bought you dinner."

"Like that makes up for being stuck here all day, hunched over paperwork." Mike retorted as he stood up, but twisted his face in thought, then looked back at Harvey. "No, actually it kinda does. I don't feel lightheaded or dizzy anymore when I stand up. So yeah, it did make up for it."

Harvey shook his head and pushed Mike back down on the couch.

"Eat your damn apple and go back to sleep. I don't have time to visit you in the hospital or plan your funeral."

Mike watched Harvey leave the office to retrieve a file from Jessica, and smiled to himself.

Harvey definitely cares.

**AN: Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Sneezes and Wheezes

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, put this story on alert and added it to your favorites! It means so much! :)**

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it.**

**One-Shot # 2**

**Sneezes and Wheezes **

"Ahh-choo!"

Mike's furious sneeze rang out through Harvey's office. He straightened back up and felt his head throb a bit at the change in position, or maybe it was because the world was tilting. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, but it only made the pain in his head worsen. When he slowly reopened his eyes, he jumped back slightly at the sudden appearance of Harvey and had to catch himself with one of the chair's in his boss' office so he wouldn't fall to the floor.

"Jesus, Harvey! Would you not do that?" Mike asked, glaring at the older man who stood directly in front of him.

The lawyer only straightened his posture and stared at Mike.

"You sneezed." Harvey said, and when Mike just looked at him he added, "Again. As in you've sneezed multiple times already. You know I'm not a rocket scientist, but I'd say it has something to do with the fact you rode your bike to work yesterday morning in a downpour after I specifically told you to take a cab."

"It's allergies." Mike replied, but even he could here the doubt in his voice. It didn't help his nose was completely stopped up, making his voice sound funny.

"Uh huh." Harvey nodded his head, sarcastically. "I'm sure that it's. Take some medicine. I don't want your snot and germs all over my office. And those Riley files better be on my desk in two hours, otherwise I'll let Louis take you to the steam room at the tennis club to make your sinuses loosen up."

Mike made a disgusted face before jogging out of Harvey's office, back to his cubicle.

* * *

><p>Mike finished the Riley files, but now his throat was burning and the frequent coughing fits didn't make it, or his head, feel any better. Glancing at his watch, he realized he had twenty minutes before he needed to get the files to Harvey, which gave him enough time to go to the bathroom.<p>

He leaned over the sink, and through some warm water on his face. He marveled as the warm liquid washed over his face and wished he could get his whole body just as warm. His knees were shaking, jerking rather, as his body shivered against the fever he knew was slowly rising. He leaned back against the wall, now feeling sweaty, and was grateful for the cold marble against his back. He closed his heavy eyelids and couldn't help but slide down to the floor to relax for just a minute. However, a minute to his fevered mind was equivalent to fifteen, as he reopened his eyes, or woke up from dosing off, he realized he only had one minute to get to Harvey's office.

* * *

><p>"I thought I told you two hours. Not a minute after two hours."<p>

Harvey watched his associate with a close, yet not _concerned_, eye. The younger man had ran into his office and placed the files on his desk, then tried to catch his breath. However, his efforts went unnoticed as he started coughing. He saw Mike close his eyes with a pained expression, then reopen them with a woozy glaze. His associate started to sway, and Harvey was on his feet.

"Mike, sit down." His voice was firm, but not hateful.

The only move Mike made was the buckling of his knees. Harvey quick crossed the short distance that was still between them and caught Mike by his armpits.

"Hey, hey, hey. Come on, Mike. You gotta work with me here." Harvey said, through a strained voice as he all but dragged Mike to the couch. He deposited the younger man on the piece of furniture with a exhausted sigh, but thankful that his associate had not completely passed out, though his eyes were open to only slits.

He sat down next to Mike on the couch, unnerved by the wheezing sound coming from the kid, and tapped the side of his face gently.

"Hey, kid? You with me?"

He saw glassy eyes slowly turn towards him, but Mike didn't say anything as he tried to breathe normally. His chest was moving rapidly, but his lungs kept sending signals to his brain that he wasn't getting enough air. Judging by the awful wheezing sound, Harvey believed that he probably wasn't.

He laid a firm hand on top of Mike's chest.

"I need you to calm down. Take slower breaths. Okay? I'll be right back."

He stood up, but something snaked around his wrist, without the strength to fully prevent him from moving. However, the action had enough meaning to do so.

He looked Mike right in the eyes and was greeted with panic.

"I'm just going to get Donna. I'll be back in less than a minute."

He felt the trembling fingers around his wrist slip away, and he hurriedly made his way to the door. The older lawyer stuck his head out of the door, told Donna to have Ray pull the car around and cancel his afternoon and swiftly walked back to associate.

"Okay, kiddo. Time for Louis to take you to the steam room."

He tried to make light of the situation and couldn't help but laugh as Mike started to panic even more.

"I'm kidding." Harvey assured him. "But you are going to the hospital."

Mike started to protest and tried to resist Harvey moving him from the couch. However, he was way too tired to be a real match for Harvey and let the older man guide him to the elevator.

He started coughing again and squeezed his eyes shut, praying that all this was just a bad dream, but when he reopened his eyes, he was greeted with the hellish reality. He sighed, which made him cough again and his breathing was becoming even more difficult. He was starting to panic again, when a firm arm wrapped around his shoulders and squeezed him reassuringly.

"Easy, kid. I got you. Were almost to the car." Harvey's uncharacteristically soft and gentle voice, guided him out of his panic attack and the man himself lead him out of Pearson Hardman. The wheezing was worsening, his breaths came in gasps and the dreadfulness in his stomach churned slowly with each second they were closer to the hospital, but the panic never worsened, because nobody panics if they have Harvey Specter looking out for them.

**AN: This is a one-shot. Hopefully, none of you are mad that I ended it there. D: I don't think I've ever wrote a sick Mike fic. If I have I don't remember doing so, so I thought I would give it a try. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. I'm Not The Hero You Think I Am

**Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, and out this on their story alerts and favorites! It means so much! **

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it.**

**One-Shot # 3**

**I'm Not The Hero You Think I Am**

Harvey Specter held a shot glass limply between his thumb and first two fingers while sitting in a chair with his elbows resting on his knees and swirled the exorbitant scotch that lined the bottom as he stared at the sleeping form of Michael Ross on his couch. His jaded, brown eyes fell upon bruises on the younger man's face that even his most expensive scotch couldn't soften. He drank the remaining liquid and relished at the burning sensation it brought while it ran down his throat to his guilt ridden stomach and eyed the bottom of the glass. The emptiness represented more than just the thin glaze over his eyes and the numbness of his senses. Casting a glance at his associate once more in hopes of seeing familiar blue eyes that held admiration Harvey didn't think he deserved, he gave a long sigh at the despondency and stood up a bit unstable and filled his glass once more.

With a small cling, he sat the bottle of scotch down and leaned against the counter taking more small sips of the desired liquid. He rubbed a hand across his fatigued facial features and was not surprised at the rough stubble he felt along his jaw line, but was stunned however, as he didn't seem to mind that it was there. He attempted to set his glass down on the countertop, but missed it by a couple of inches, sending the glass to the floor. The sound of shattering glass sent his mind several hours back to the morning

* * *

><p>"<em>Harvey, what is with you and skinny ties?" Mike asked, clearly irritated.<em>

"_As I have said many times, people respond to how we are dressed. When I see you in a skinny tie, I don't want to talk business. I want to wrap it around your neck and choke you." Harvey replied without any heat. He chuckled when Mike rolled his eyes and looked out the window as he sulked. _

"_But if Rachel has a thing for kid's in skinny ties, then I suppose it would be okay to wear one around the office." Harvey joked, trying to get Mike out of his brooding state. _

_It didn't work._

"_Mike-" Harvey started to say, but was cut off short by the screeching of tires, the warping of metal and the shattering of glass. _

_Harvey was dazed for moment, unsure of what had just happened. He blinked several times until his mind processed the recent events. Adrenaline slammed into him and he was back in reality. His mind was working a hundred and twenty miles an hour, and for a split second he thought that it was probably how Mike lived day to day, his mind working faster than his body. Then, it hit him._

_Mike._

_Turning his head as fast as he possibly could, which would never be fast enough, he saw the slumped figure of the younger man in the seat next to him. His face ashen, making the violent red blood running down his face stand out even more._

"_Mike?" Harvey called, his voice wavering as he placed a shaky hand on his associate's shoulder._

"_Mike?" He called again, after he had swallowed the lump in his throat. But Mike didn't stir. He saw the younger man's chest rise and fall and the trembling in his hands lessened. _

"_Come on, Mike. Wake up!" He tried, but to no avail. He looked around and saw Ray coming around to Harvey's door. He watched the driver open his door and poke his head in._

"_Harvey! Are you and Mr. Ross okay?" The man asked in distress._

"_Ray, call an ambulance. He's not waking up."_

"_Already done, Sir. They are on their way. Are you okay, Harvey?" He asked again. _

"_I'm fine, Ray." Harvey answered looking his driver up and down. "Are you?"_

"_Yeah, I think so." Ray's face started to pale. "I didn't see him. Our light was green. I just went. I should've looked. I should've made sure no was going to run the light. I-"_

"_Ray!" Harvey called, trying to catch his attention. "It's not your fault. Where's the guy that hit us?" _

"_He's...he's still sitting in his car, Sir. I, I think he's injured, too."_

_Harvey looked out the broken window on Mike's side and noticed the man's vehicle was smashed into the side of their car, but luckily most of it caught the trunk of the car instead of directly in Mike's door._

_Anger bubbled in Harvey's chest at the thought, but soon he felt sick. He was vaguely aware for being pulled from the car, away from Mike. Once he was standing on the curb, he realized the paramedics had arrived and were asking him questions, while others pulled Mike's limp form from the car. _

_He watched in horror, completely ignoring the paramedics tending to him, as Mike's body was laid on a stretcher and strapped down. _

"_He's unconscious." The first paramedic stated, along with Mike's vitals. Harvey heard the words 'head injury' before they started wheeling him towards the ambulance. Harvey broke from the paramedics holding him back and made to follow Mike to the ambulance, until Mike's head snapped towards him, eyes wide open and accusing. _

"_Harvey." His voice was loud, drowning out the sounds of New York City._

_Harvey stopped dead in his tracks, his heart stopping in the process. He didn't remember this part. He stared wide-eyed at Mike, who stared back at him._

"_Why, Harvey?" Mike asked. "Why? Why did you let this happen?"_

_Harvey moved his mouth, but nothing came out._

"_Why didn't you protect me?"_

_The paramedics started rolling him away again, but Harvey couldn't move. _

"_Harvey."_

"_Harvey!" _

_Mike's voice was getting closer, despite the fact he was being wheeled farther away._

"_Harvey!" _

Harvey jumped and shook his head. He blinked and realized he was standing in his kitchen and not at the scene of the car wreck.

"Harvey?" He jumped again and noticed Mike leaning heavily against the counter beside him.

"What are you doing off the couch?" Harvey asked, moving quickly to assist Mike. Mike protested and held out an arm weakly.

"I heard glass shatter. You dropped your drink and like...zoned out or something. I couldn't get your attention." Mike replied, looking at his boss worriedly.

"It's the scotch." Harvey lied and dismissed, as he motioned towards the half empty bottle on the counter. Mike still eyed him, and Harvey rolled his eyes.

"Come on. You shouldn't be up." Harvey said, taking a hold of Mike's right arm and putting it around his shoulders. He felt his stomach churn a little bit when Mike didn't protest and actually leaned against him as they crossed the distance to the couch, but relieved that the resentful and angry Mike from his flashback/nightmare was just a figment of his guilt ridden mind.

He eased Mike down on the sofa and watched the younger man lie down on his right, uninjured side and curl up, burying his face in the cushions on the back of the couch.

He heard the younger man give a sigh of relief, content and exhaustion.

"It's so stupid." He heard Mike mumbled into the cushions.

"What is?" Harvey asked, setting down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Mike's back was to him and he could see the muscles in his back tense, as if he couldn't relax.

"I've been sleeping for hours, and just by walking to your kitchen I feel like I ran across America with Forrest Gump." Mike replied, curling in on himself even more.

Harvey laughed half-heartedly. "A concussion along with the pain medicine your on will do that to you."

"I guess so." Mike mumbled, and Harvey could tell he was already half asleep.

"Get some sleep, kid." Harvey stated, allowing at least one of them to sleep, knowing there was no way he would be succumbing to the hellish nightmares that licked at his mind even while he was awake. He leaned forward and put a gentle hand on Mike's head, moving back the dark blonde hair to check the stitches along his hairline. Seeing that they were still intact and accompanied by a colorful display of black, purple and yellow bruises that covered the left side of the younger man's face, he easily ruffled the top of the kid's hair, making sure he wasn't touching any tender spots.

He stood up, feeling the effects of his scotch a little bit more, and turned to go to his bedroom, but a weary voice stopped him.

"There's nothing you could have done."

Harvey closed his eyes, and felt the scotch loosen his tongue despite his best efforts to stop it. "There's always something I could have done."

"Let me put it this way. There's nothing I would have wanted you to do."

Harvey sighed and ran a hand across his face, scratching at the dark stubble on his face.

"What you're doing now is enough. Let it be enough." Mike pleaded, his head still buried in the couch, their backs to one another, but both knew the expressions of the other.

Mike was pleading for his hero not to fall, begging for his paragon to believe in the admiration he held for him.

Harvey was wishing he could be the hero Mike believed him to be, hoping he could do something that deserved the admiration his associate, his friend, his _brother_ had for him.

"I don't want- I don't need the armor to be protected, to be safe." Mike's voice pulled Harvey from his thoughts. "I need the man behind it."

After several seconds, Harvey turned back around to look at Mike and found him asleep, relaxed and despite the injuries sustained to the left side of his body from an unpreventable, on their part, car accident, he was safe and sound.

Harvey felt the scotch, or maybe it was the truth, tug at the corner of his lips and forced him to smile.

Maybe he is a hero after all.

**AN: Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! **


	4. Hangman

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it.**

**Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and added this to alerts and favorites! It means the world to me! I can't thank you enough! **

**One-Shot #4:**

**Hangman**

"A."

Harvey sighed and filled in some A's.

"E."

The older man wrote down one E.

Mike guessed the remaining vowels and glanced at the paper in Harvey's hand.

It read:

__ o i _ i _ a _ i _ _ o _ _ e a _ _ i __

Mike sighed, and tilted his head back to stare at the top of the car.

"Harvey! I'm pretty sure there is no such word in the English language spelled like that!" Mike stated, completely irritated.

"Either guess another letter, or I'm going to quit playing this childish game." Harvey replied, challenging his associate's irritated tone with an annoyed one of his own.

With a heavy sigh, the younger of the two mumbled the letter g.

"Are you kidding me?" He exclaimed as Harvey began to make the stick figure of man who was about to be hanged.

The man with the pen drew the stick figure while a smile spread across his face.

"I quit. I give up." Mike forfeited.

"Really?" Harvey asked, disbelievingly. "You just give up."

Mike nodded his head and looked out the window to judge how far they had moved up in the current traffic jam they were in.

"Okay." Harvey replied as he filled in the rest of the letters. He handed the paper to Mike when he was finished.

The associate stared at it for several seconds, as his boss watched him carefully not wanting to miss the moment he allowed expression to show through.

Mike kept staring at the paper that now read: toidInAsIssoRleachiM

"You're an asshole!" Mike exclaimed, throwing the paper back at Harvey.

Harvey laughed as he caught the incoming paper before it hit him in the face.

"That wasn't even fair! You cheated."

"How?"

Mike turned his head slowly to look at Harvey, letting his mouth hang open incredulously.

"Harvey, it was multiple words, which you didn't even bother to space! You just made it all one word! Not to mention you wrote the whole thing backwards!"

"How is that cheating?" Harvey asked again.

"You can't do that! It's the simple rules of Hangman."

Harvey raised an eyebrow and shook his negatively. "You didn't mention any rules. I specifically asked you if there were any limitations and all you said was that it had to be English. 'Michael Ross is an idiot' is English."

Mike's mouth hung open even wider.

"Tell me I'm wrong." Harvey retorted, with an arrogant smirk.

Mike rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, and looked out the window.

"Imagine that! The puppy is sulking." Harvey teased. "Hey, Ray! Could you please drop me off at the pet store on our way back from the meeting. I'll have to get this puppy a new toy so he will stop sulking."

"You know just for the record, " Mike broke in between Harvey and Ray's laughter. "I beat you at tic-tac-toe like ten times!"

"I let you win." Harvey replied, matter-of-fact.

"Whatever." Mike eyed Harvey to see if he was telling the truth. He definitely was. "Damn it!" He threw his head back on the headrest.

Harvey laughed again and raised an eyebrow when Mike looked at him with a challenging stare.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors. Now. Go!" Mike replied throwing a fist on top of his other open palm.

Harvey rolled his eyes, but complied.

"Ray are we anywhere near getting out of this traffic?" Mike asked, after he had lost Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"It'll be a bit longer, Mr. Ross." Ray replied, with a chuckle.

Mike slammed his head against the window.

"It was your idea to play these stupid games. Don't sulk because you can't play them. Well, maybe you can play them. you just can't beat me." Harvey smiled victoriously.

"Hmm." Was all Mike said in response as he looked out the window.

A few minutes later, Harvey's voice broke the silence that had filled the car.

"Hey, where is the copy of that agreement from the Adams case?" Harvey asked.

"You're holding it." Mike replied, rolling his head along the window to look at him.

Harvey glanced at Mike then at the paper in his hand. The hangman game and thirteen games of tic-tac-toe were scribble on a blank sheet of computer paper. As quickly as he could, he turned the page over and sure enough it was the agreement he had to turn in to Jessica Pearson.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Harvey replied in a dangerous tone.

"What? I didn't do anything! You were the one that grabbed the piece of paper out of your briefcase." Mike defended.

Harvey clenched his jaw and looked out the window.

"Oh, look who is sulking now." Mike mocked, but when Harvey glared at him he quickly shut up and returned to looking out his own window.

* * *

><p>Harvey walked into Jessica Pearson's office and straight to her desk, placing the Adams agreement right side up on her desk. He made to leave her office as quickly as he came.<p>

"Harvey." Jessica called. Harvey stilled continued walking towards the door.

"How was the client meeting?"

"Fine."

"Harvey." Jessica called again. This time Harvey stopped, knowing his boss was now standing behind him. He turned around and placed an innocent expression on his face.

"What is this?" She asked, holding up the sheet of paper, so Harvey could see the tic-tac-toe games and hangman. Harvey stumbled for a words for a split second before Jessica cut him off.

"I'm disappointed in you, Harvey."

Harvey forced a smile and tilted his head to the side in question.

Jessica broke the serious expression on her face with a smile.

"I can't believe you had to cheat to beat the kid at Hangman."

Harvey set his jaw in an almost embarrassed way, before turning to leave again.

"Have Donna get me another copy of this." Jessica called before Harvey was out of her office. "One without your means of entertaining and occupying your puppy during extreme moments of boredom."

* * *

><p>Mike caught up to Harvey in the hallway.<p>

"So, what did Jessica say?"

Harvey eyed him. "That the next time you draw on the back of an important document, she will have your fingers cut off and keep them in a jar on her desk."

Harvey smirked at him as he saw his associate consider if he was telling the truth.

"I'll still get to keep my thumbs right?" Mike asked, after a moment. "Because It's my turn for Hangman."

"Uh no, you forfeited." Harvey replied.

"You cheated."

Harvey rolled his eyes and walked into his office, with Mike closely behind. The younger man pulled a sheet of paper from Harvey's desk and a pen, while his boss sat down.

"Mike, so help me God, if that's another important document..." Harvey warned.

"Twenty-three letters. Go." Mike said.

After Harvey had guess all the vowels, he shook his head and chuckled.

"What?" Mike asked.

"The word is 'Michael Ross is not an idiot' without spaces and it is written backwards."

"Ah ha!" Mike said excitedly.

"What are you so excited about? I won." Harvey questioned, completely confused as to why Mike was standing there with a huge grin on his face.

"You said it."

"Said what?"

"That I'm not an idiot." Mike answered, his grin growing wider.

"Clearly." Harvey replied sarcastically, picking up the baseball and gently throwing it at Mike, hitting him square in the stomach, cutting off his victorious laughter.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It's been a few days since I've updated. I was on a roll there for a while, then I just got uninspired and discouraged with my stories by my own doing, then I watched an episode of Suits and this came to me in free writing. So, I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think? <strong>


	5. Dealing With It

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it.**

**One-Shot #5**

**Dealing With It**

His knuckles throbbed from the impact, but hurt from the betrayal they had just driven into an undeserving man's cheek. He dropped his fists down beside his legs, while his heart hammered in his chest. He could feel the tips of his fingernails dig into his clammy palms while he pleaded his mouth to stop moving but his efforts went unnoticed.

"I hate you." His voice was foreign to his own ears, the resentment and anger that dripped off of each syllable making him question whether he had actually spoken. However, the brown eyes staring at him became even more guarded, even more sentineled and he knew it was his words that caused it. The desperation in him swelled as he was now figuratively farther from the man in front of him.

"What else?" The man's voice cut through the sound of blood pumping in his ears and began slicing at the anger that was swallowing him. He wouldn't need an eidetic memory to remember the strain in the older man's words.

"What?" He grounded out, his anger supplying much of the force behind it.

"What else is there?" Harvey Specter asked. "What is it you really want to say to me?"

Mike swallowed, but felt his mouth turn up in the corners. His smile was supported by anger, not by humor.

"Oh! There's a whole damn list of what I want to say to you, but you would never hear me all the way down here. You're pedestal is to high _your majesty_."

He wasn't bantering, he wasn't attempting to joke as he looked up the three inches it took to look the older man in the eyes, but it felt like several feet.

"Why don't you punch me a few more times. Maybe I'll be on your level then." Harvey stepped forward, his muscular body and arrogant attitude seemingly towering over Mike.

Anger was slowing deteriorating and Mike felt it difficult to hold his ground. He took a unsteady step backwards and opened his mouth to speak, before closing it and deciding to stare at his boss instead.

"What? You don't want to, or are you just afraid I'll kick your ass?"

Mike swallowed thickly as the last bit of anger he felt was sucked in by fear and desolation. The older man stepped toward him again, but Mike couldn't move back any further. His shoulder blades were pressed against the wall.

"Come on, Mike. Take another swing. See what happens." Harvey encouraged, but his tone was anything but friendly. "Hey, who knows, maybe it will bring your grandmother back."

Mike became stock still at the words spoken to him. He felt his fingernails dig into the skin of his palms and gritted his teeth.

"Shut up." His voice was low, almost pleading.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Remember I'm on a pedestal way up here." The older man swung his hand back and forth over the top of Mike's head.

"I said, shut up." Mike replied again, his voice a bit louder, not because of Harvey's taunts, but because of the anger that was swelling again.

"I don't get it. If you loved her so much, why do you act like she isn't even dead?" Harvey asked, his eyebrows furrowed together in fake confusion.

"You're right." Mike answered, meeting Harvey's gaze with daggers. "You don't get it."

Mike pushed himself away from the wall and around Harvey.

The older man closed his eyes and swallowed, knowing his was going to regret his next words, but he was going for an end result, just like in trial. _Press where it hurts. _

"Do you even care?" The question came out so harsh that for the first time in years Harvey wished he was capable of losing. However, the question brought the desired reaction, only with a lot more damage than he intended.

Mike stopped in his tracks and turned red-faced back towards Harvey.

For a brief second, Harvey wondered how water could be used to wash things away, when it made the kid's face dirty with sorrow when a few drops sprang from two blue eyes.

"She was the only thing I had left. The only person in my life I had left!" Mike voice rose with each word, forcing two more tears down his face. "You think I don't _care_? You think I'm like you, and don't give a shit about anybody but myself? Well, guess what Harvey. I'm not! I'm nothing like you! I'll never be anything like you, and I'm not ashamed of that!"

Mike's chest heaved up and down, as his screams left him breathless.

"You shouldn't be." Harvey simply stated, looking at Mike with unguarded eyes.

"What?" Mike asked, breathlessly, holding his head to the side.

"You shouldn't be ashamed." Harvey repeated, to clarify. Mike said nothing.

"I know you _care, _Mike. I'm reminded of it every damn day, when you hesitate to stand up for yourself when one of Louis's drones picks on you, when you deliberately lose in mock trial to spare the paralegal's feelings, when you try to give every guilty client the benefit of the doubt. I know you cared about her, Mike."

Mike looked at Harvey in more confusion, his eyes showing distrust.

"Then...why did you say all that?"

Harvey tilted his head to the side for a minute, then took a step towards Mike, but stilled when he saw the younger man tense.

"To make you see it, too." Harvey answered. "It's been a week and you have acted as if it hasn't even happened. Yesterday, you almost told Donna you were on your way to see her at the nursing home. Now, trust me kid, I don't want you coming to work balling your eyes out but, I sure as hell don't want you going section eight on me either."

Mike let out a strangled laughed, but looked at Harvey with easier eyes. "I'll let you know if I start seeing dead people like Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense." He joked, but his humor was quickly lost.

Harvey smirked, but realized the joke was poorly timed.

"I'm sorry I hit you."

Harvey nodded his head as he touched his cheek gently. "Yeah, don't be. I anticipated it. I was hoping you would."

When Mike, looked at him confused, he elaborated.

"I had to get through to you somehow. Anger seemed like the best choice." Harvey shrugged his shoulders.

"Wow. You should be a therapist." Mike replied sarcastically.

"Would you have wanted me to punch you?" The older man asked. "It crossed my mind."

"I don't doubt that for a second." Mike said, then his face grew serious. "I didn't mean what I said. I just-"

"What are you talking about?" Harvey cut him off.

Mike blinked at him. "Uhh...what I just said about...hating you and all that other stuff."

"Mike, you never said that."

The younger man held his mouth open and looked around in confusion. "Um, yeah...I just-"

"No." Harvey cut him off again, with a negative shake of the head. "I tripped over the mess in your floor and hit my cheek on the table. We had a heart to heart conversation, hugged it out and now you have agreed to come with me to Donna's apartment for dinner."

Mike stared at him for a minute, before laughing a laugh he felt.

"She's down in the car isn't she?"

"Yeah." Harvey nodded.

"What happens if I don't go along with your story?"

Harvey looked at him like he had to heads. "'l'll kick your ass." He stated as if it was obvious.

"Fair enough." Mike agreed. "But do I have to go to Donna's?"

"You look like a skeleton halloween decoration, you're eating." Harvey said, matter of fact.

Mike furrowed his eyebrows. "Then why are we going to Donna's for dinner?"

Harvey slapped Mike on the back and thought for a second. "Yeah, you're right. Her cooking sucks. We'll get Chinese take out afterwards."

The two men made their way out of Mike's apartment. Before they reached the car, Mike turned to the older man.

"Thanks, Harvey."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say I was paying for the Chinese take out." He knew full well that Mike wasn't thanking him for that, but both men welcomed the humor and the meaning underlying in it.

Mike stopped walking all of a sudden, causing Harvey to run into him.

"What's wrong?" Harvey asked, as Mike stared at the car.

"Donna's driving?" Mike asked, fearfully.

"You don't happen to have two bikes do you?" Harvey asked, as he stood beside Mike.

Mike shook his head, but was forced to smile and wave as Donna motioned for them to come on while she sat in the driver's seat.

Harvey looked over at Mike. "If you sit up front, I'll buy the Chinese."

Harvey and Donna sat at her dinning room table, after Mike had excused himself to go to the bathroom. Donna sipped her wine and looked at Harvey with smirk.

"What?" He asked, reluctantly

"That was the worst lie you've ever told."

She could tell Harvey was about to protest so she cut him off.

"I don't care how you got him to talk to you, how you got him to start dealing with his grandmother's death. I'm just glad that you did."

Harvey rolled his eyes and stared at his own glass of wine as he swirled the liquid. He sighed after a moment and looked back up at Donna.

"I am too."

**AN: So it started out as angst, but I had to add some humor at the end. I think the show does a good job of adding all of those elements, I just hope to add at least a tiny fraction of the their greatness to my stories. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :)**


	6. Super Glue

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it!**

**One-Shot #6**

**Super Glue**

Harvey Specter stood in his office, standing next to the window that revealed New York City at its prime. The lights flashed and illuminated the city in a way that not even the sun could produce when it rose in just a few hours, pushing the moon back down. He looked through his haunted reflection that appeared on the glass, not wanting to see the emotion he could no longer mask. However, his subconscious still detected the mournfulness that painted his weary face.

He heard the door open and saw the red-headed, slim silhouette of his secretary walk into his office in the reflection of the window.

"Harvey..." Her voice was soft and so uncharacteristically gentle, it made Harvey close his eyes.

"Not now, Donna."

His voice was rough from not being used in some time, losing his persuasive firmness.

"Harvey," Her voice was almost desperate and he could imagine her headed tilted to side and her eyes wide with sympathy. "If you would just-"

"I said not now." Anger supported his voice, making it ring throughout the silent office.

Donna didn't jump. She expected the outburst, but if her boss thought it would do any good then he was worse off than she speculated.

"And I heard you, but it doesn't make a bit of difference." The determined secretary walked up behind the man.

He watched her reflection slowly appear next to his and for a moment he felt his shoulders straighten out with new acquired strength. The strength was quickly diminished by the look of empathy resting easily on her face, while his shoulders sagged back down to a familiar spot.

"I'm fine, Donna." He grounded out, never taking his eyes off the New York City streets below.

She moved to stand next to him, her slender shoulder brushing against his vigorous arm. Her gaze followed his to the nightlife below, before she responded.

"I know you are, Harvey." Her reply was honest and sincere. It broke the man's stare away from the world outside, bringing it back to her.

"Hey did you hear?" She asked, her face instantly morphing with excitement.

"Hear what?" He inquired with less enthusiasm.

"Louis's stress balls somehow got super-glued to his desk."

The man stared at his secretary for a moment with an unreadable expression, before a humorous light touched his eyes and ghosted over his lips. With an eyebrow raised he spoke.

"Somehow got super-glued to his desk?"

Donna nodded innocently.

"Right. That's funny considering I specifically remember seeing you put a bottle of super glue in your desk after lunch."

She looked at him shocked, not because he knew of the super glue, but because he accused her.

She scoffed. "Harvey, I swear to you on the _can opener _that I didn't do it."

A smirk made its way onto his face, making the frown lines on his face smooth out into delighted ones. "Uh huh. Then who did?" He asked, not believing her for a minute.

"I did." A new voice answer.

Both, boss and secretary, turned towards the door to see a sheepish associate standing in the doorway, holding his hands out away from him in disgust.

Harvey blinked and out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the smile that Donna fought to keep at bay. His mouth opened slightly in surprise, though it shouldn't have come as one. He bit his lip as he stared at Mike Ross in the doorway looking abashed.

"Do you know how much trouble you're going to be in if Louis finds out it was you?" Harvey asked, though he didn't actually think Louis would.

"Yeah!" Mike replied walking cover to them, his hands still held out in front of him like a toddler with gunk on them. "Which is why you have to help me!"

"Help you?" Both boss and secretary questioned, with a raised eyebrow and small smile.

"Yes, help me." Mike's head nodded vigorously. "I've got super glue all over my hands and my finger are sticking together!"

There was a moment of silence filled by the younger man's panicked breathing, before Harvey and Donna burst out laughing. Mike's mouth fell open.

"Why are you guys laughing? Louis is going to fire my ass when he sees me with this shit all over my hands! I can't get it off."

They tried to stifle their laughter.

"He's right. Mike's right." Donna said, with a hand held to her mouth to hide her smile.

"Mike you have something on your face." Harvey said, pointing to his own cheek to indicate the spot. Mike raised a hand, but quickly dropped it before he touched his face after realizing what Harvey was trying to do.

Harvey and Donna laughed even harder, though Donna tried not to.

"Oh yeah? You think that's funny?" Mike shot back walking towards Harvey's wall of records. "How funny will it be when I touch your records, Harvey?"

Harvey's face turned serious. "Almost as humorous as when I kick your ass."

"Will you just help me?" Mike pleaded, walking away from the records towards Harvey and Donna.

"Okay. Okay." Donna spoke. "We have to get this off his hands before Louis sees him."

Harvey was still smiling, but nodded in agreement while motioning for Mike to come closer. He carefully grabbed Mike's wrists and held them up to see his hands.

"How bad is it..." His questioned trailed off after he saw that the younger man's hands were covered in it. "What did you do? Dip your hands in it?"

"No." Mike answered as if Harvey really thought he had. Harvey rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let's go to the bathroom and try to wash this stuff off." Donna suggested.

"Do you not think I tried that? My fingers almost got stuck to the sink handle! It obviously didn't work!"

"Calm down." Harvey said with a chuckle.

"I've got some soap in my desk that should get it off, Einstein." Donna replied, with a glare but without any menace behind it.

Harvey released Mike's wrists, but Mike stilled held his hands up as they made to follow Donna towards the hall. However, as soon as Donna stepped out into the hallway, she ran right back in with a panic written all over her face, causing Harvey and Mike to stop dead in their tracks.

"What is it?" Harvey asked.

She swallowed thickly. "Louis is coming down the hall. Headed this way."

"Oh God!" Mike groaned. "I told you! He's going to kill me."

Harvey held out a hand. " No he's not, just-"

"Louis!" Donna's exclaimed greeting cut Harvey's reply off.

Harvey and Mike jumped and Harvey accidentally grabbed Mike's hand, instead of his wrist to shove the younger man behind him. He didn't have time to think about it, as Louis walked into the office. Harvey's blood started to boil.

"Harvey, I -" Louis started to say before he stopped and eyed boss and associate. Donna stood off to the side nervously. "Why is Mike standing behind you like that?"

Harvey didn't even glance behind him, knowing full-well that Mike was standing directly behind him, his hand stuck to his own behind his back. Mike's head popped around Harvey's shoulder.

"We are doing an...experiment for trial." Mike tried to lie, causing Louis's eyes to narrow.

"What are you two hiding?"

"We're not hiding anything Louis." Harvey mocked innocently, trying to keep his anger out of his voice. "You already know I was with your wife last night."

Louis practically snarled.

"I know. You're still not married." Harvey smirked.

"Why do you have your hand behind your back?" Louis questioned taking a step closer. Everyone heard Mike swallow loudly.

"Why are you in my office?" Harvey countered. Donna and Mike shared nervous looks as Louis and Harvey stared each other down. Louis acted as if he was going to step further, then suddenly froze.

"I need to speak with Mike in my office."

"Fine." Harvey agreed. Louis eyed them for a few more seconds before turning to leave. He reached the door and turned around.

"Mike." Louis said, summoning him.

"He will be in there in a few minutes Louis." Harvey replied, causing Louis to grit his teeth and walk angrily down the hall.

"God. That was so close." Donna said, in a breath of relief.

"You are so damn lucky I didn't give you up right then and there." Harvey stated, a he turned around towards Mike, raising his hand up. It brought Mike's up also, showing Donna they were now glued together.

"Oh...my...God." Donna said, trying to hold in her laughter. The glare she got from both of them, stopped her. "Okay. Let's get to the bathroom."

* * *

><p>"Oww!" Mike exclaimed, trying to pull his hand away, bringing Harvey's with him.<p>

"Would you stop being a wuss?" Harvey question as he stood on the other side of Donna, leaning on the counter. He pulled his, and Mike's, hand and placed it back in the sink so Donna could continue to scrub at the glue.

"I'm not going to have any skin left on my hand if she keeps scrubbing in that one spot." Mike shot back trying to wriggle his hand away from both Harvey's hand and Donna's grasp. She smacked his arm with the back of the scrubber she acquired from the janitor.

"That will be the least of your worries if you don't keep your hand still, understood?"

Mike immediately stopped squirming and complied, fearful of what Donna would do to him. "Yes."

Harvey rolled his eyes. "You are such a wuss."

* * *

><p>Mike walked into Louis's office thirty minutes later, hiding his raw hands in his pockets.<p>

"You wanted to see me?" Mike asked casually, but had to cough to cover up the laughter that escaped him when he saw a piece of wood from Louis's desk missing right where he had super-glued his stress balls.

"I need this done by tomorrow morning. Catch." Louis threw a folder at Mike and the associate caught it with red, raw hands.

"What's wrong with your hands?" Louis questioned immediately.

Mike froze, feeling his heart pound in his chest and his ears turn blood red, matching his hands. "Uhh...I just made a pot of coffee...and I spilled it all over my hands."

"Hmm." Louis narrowed his eyes at him as he thought. He laughed. "I saw Gregory make the last pot of coffee three hours ago."

Mike swallowed, caught like a deer in the headlights.

"What are you hiding Mike?" Louis questioned, already knowing Mike was the culprit of gluing his stress balls to his desk, but had no proof. Suddenly, Mike's expression changed and he became angry.

"Why did you have to bring up Harvey's dead brother?"

Louis stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Mike." He smiled. "Mike, Mike, Mike."

"He died in a car accident, it had nothing to do with Harvey. It wasn't his fault."

Louis glared at him. "Harvey and I are partners of this firm, what we discuss is none of your concern."

"It-"

"He's right, Mike." Harvey's voice cut Mike's retort off. He turned around to see his boss standing in the door leaning against its frame.

"Mike, let Senior partner and Junior partner speak alone." Harvey ordered, pushing himself away from the frame and walking in.

Mike opened his mouth to speak, but Harvey shot him a look that said _now _and he obliged.

"What happened to your desk?" Harvey asked, with a smirk.

Louis sneered.

"Your little golden boy glued my stress balls to my desk."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "How do you know it was him?"

"Oh come on, Harvey. Everyone knows he's an obedient little dog to you."

"I fail to see your connection." Harvey stated, placing his hands in his pockets while he stood in front of Louis's desk. He, too, eyed the missing piece on the furniture and couldn't help but chuckle. "You shouldn't be angry at whoever it was that did it, though. I mean they were practically doing you a favor. At least with them glued to your desk, you wouldn't lose your balls."

Harvey smirked at his own joke, feeling proud when Louis's frown deepened at the joke of his manhood.

"I'll get Mike for this. I know it was him." Louis replied.

"Even if you could prove that it was him, which you can't, you won't go after him." Harvey replied his tone going dangerously low.

"Oh really? And why is that?"

Harvey tilted his head to the side, his narrowing ever so slightly. "Because I can think of several more ways to use that super-glue." He turned without another word to exit Louis's office.

"That's nice. Protecting your little puppy." Louis mocked.

Harvey didn't reply.

* * *

><p>Harvey caught up to Mike in the hallway.<p>

"Don't ever try to seek vengeance for me again, ok?" He ordered while they casually walked down the hall.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mike tried to play innocent, but Harvey shot him a sideways glance that told him not to bother.

"Every time you do, I have to save your ass from getting fired. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but people say shit about me everyday. I don't go around like a menace playing practical jokes on them because of it." Harvey informed as they stopped at Donna's desk.

"No." Mike confirmed. "You just mop the floor with them in court." The younger man nodded to Donna, then walked away to go to his cubicle.

"I think a simple thank you would've worked just as well." Donna said after a moment. Harvey looked at her.

"Really?"

She nodded and made to speak again, but Mike's voice came out of nowhere.

"Harvey!"

She watched the older man smile before turning around.

"Yes?" He inquired.

"I need a pen." He replied, irritated.

"What happened to all of yours?" Donna questioned, knowing he had a full drawer of them.

"_Someone_," He stressed as he glared at Harvey. "glued them together."

Harvey's smile widened as he chuckled and reached into his jacket, pulling out his favorite pen. He handed it to Mike, but pulled it out of his reach just before he touched it.

"If anything happens to this pen, I'll fire you." He warned. Mike rolled his eyes and yanked the pen from Harvey's grasp.

"I work for a guy who cares more about a pen than his associate." Harvey heard him mumbled as he trudged back to his cubicle.

"I heard that!" Harvey called.

"Good!" Mike called back, before turning the corner and disappearing.

He turned back laughing, until he saw Donna's raised eyebrow and her shaking head.

"What?" He asked defensively, though he understood what Donna was implying. "He knows."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry if this one-shot lacks in any area. I wrote this in the laundry room of my dorm building while my clothes dried so blame the boredom for it! haha Thanks for reading! LEt me know what you think of this one! :)<strong>

**P.S. For anyone reading The Shot That Kills You, I'm currently writing the next chapter. **


	7. Music

**I don't own Suits, but I do own a heart that loves it.**

**I don't own Dead Island either, or its music.**

**One-Shot: Music**

Harvey Specter felt the cold wind blow against his face and he lifted his shoulders to bring the collar of his jacket up higher around his neck to protect himself from the chill outside. He stood at the entrance to an old apartment complex and stared at the door. He turned his head to look back at the curb, moved one foot in its direction and then turned back to face the door. The city of New York held an eerie silence in the part of town he found himself in, the kind of silence that reminded him of his associate, the kind of silence that Mike Ross had been living in for the past two weeks. His silence was accompanied with a blank expression that forced his boyish grin and childish spirit to take a leave of absence.

Harvey took a deep breath and entered the building. As he climbed the stairs to Mike's apartment, he tried to think of his approach but what could he say to a man who didn't want to listen.

He arrived at the correct floor with no more than huff of exhaustion and walked down the hall with soft footfalls to keep his presence unknown. He stopped just outside the door, pressing his ear against it to feed his curiosity of the sounds seeping through the cracks and the shallow walls. Sounds of something gliding across strings made elegant and aesthetic noise. Noise that Harvey would never admit to being quite beautiful. However, his hand was turning the doorknob and then he was walking into the dirty, wrecked apartment with nothing on his mind but the noise.

"That's really good." His mouth spilled the words out before his mind could contain them.

Mike drug his bow across the strings abruptly, creating a sound that rang in both men's ears. He stood from his chair as fast as his muscles would allow and listened to his heart beat quickly inside his chest once he recognized the unexpected voice belonged to his boss.

"What are you doing here?" Mike's voice was raspy, and uncharacteristic to even his own ears, but menacing nonetheless.

Harvey accepted the angry glare that his associate attacked him with, but his arrogance refused to be compassionate.

"Oh. He speaks." Harvey replied with mock surprise, his arms held out to the side as he glanced up at the ceiling as if thanking God for this miracle.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asked again, the gritting of his teeth making his voice low and muffled.

"How long have you played the violin?" Harvey ignored the question for the second time. How do you answer a question you don't know the answer to? Sure Harvey could bullshit his way out of anything, but one look at the kid in front of him told him this wasn't the time nor the place to be bullshitting anybody.

Mike sighed, closing his eyes for a few long seconds before opening them back again to stare down at his shoes. Harvey noticed the younger man tighten his grip around the bow his right hand and the violin in left.

"Since I was five."

"Huh." Harvey was impressed and let it show.

"Contrary to _your_ belief Harvey, you don't know shit about me."

Harvey raised an eyebrow and let the ghost of smirk cross his face.

"No?" He questioned, but didn't wait for an answer. "I may not know about your "hidden talents" or how long you've had them, but I know enough to figure all of this out."

"Figure what out?" Mike questioned, risking to make eye contact with Harvey, but once blue eyes met brown ones he looked back down at the floor.

"This." Harvey pointed to the floor to indicate the present time they were in. "Why you don't talk to anybody, why you have Donna worried more about you than me and why you have me behind in paperwork."

"Wow!" Mike's eyes met Harvey's. This time there was no uncertainty, just sarcasm and anger. "Really? You figured it out? You finally realized that my grandmother's death hit me pretty hard? That I can't shake off losing her like you want me to?"

Mike was standing a foot from Harvey now.

"I figured it out long before you did, kid. And for the record, I don't want you to _shake__it__off._I want you to deal with it, which you haven't been doing."

"Don't give me that. Don't throw the _deal__with__your__emotions_speech at me. Not you, especially not you."

"I'm not." Harvey replied. "I'm trying to get you to get your act together to save your job."

Was this it? Was this the answer to Mike's first question? He was there to deliver an ultimatum. Forget your grandmother or lose your job. It was simple, inconsiderate and lawyer-like. It was laying on the table waiting for a shaky hand to sign the bottom line.

Mike stared at Harvey, without the anger that once flicked in his blue eyes moments ago. Unbelievability shined in Mike's eyes and Harvey could feel the cracks in the concrete that surround his heart. He didn't mean to deliver the deal.

Before Mike could speak, not that the kid planned to, Harvey spoke again.

"Play."

Mike blinked at him.

"Play." Harvey insisted. Mike looked wary, but slowly went back to his chair. He stared down at his instrument, debating on playing. He saw Harvey sit down in a chair in front of him.

"Your grandmother...she taught you to play didn't she?"

Mike swallowed hard. "Y-yeah...she had really bad arthritis in her hands and couldn't play as much as she wanted to. So, she taught me to play." Mike smiled a small smile, while the memory overtook him. Harvey listened. "I didn't really like it. I wanted to play outside, hang out with...Trevor during the times she wanted me to practice. But I...I couldn't bring myself to tell her I hated it so I just learned it. It wasn't that hard for me, I just didn't enjoy it. But she..." Mike shook his head as his smile grew wider. "She loved it. She loved teaching me the music, she loved to hear me play it. I knew that so I kept with it. I played to her, only her."

Mike shook his head to exit his memories and took a deep breath. "Now that she is gone, I don't have to play anymore."

Harvey understood what Mike meant. He went his whole life doing something he didn't like just to make his grandmother happy, but in the end he found out he actually enjoyed it, appreciated it. But it was too late, she was gone and he felt he couldn't appreciate it.

"You can still play." Harvey assured.

Mike shook his head. "There's no point."

"You can still play _for_ her, Mike." Harvey's voice was a bit more forceful but in a gentle, knowing way. Mike looked up at him. "Play something for her now."

Mike shook his head. "No. I can't. I've never played in front of anyone besides her."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "Well, now you can say you've played in front of two people."

Mike refused.

Harvey rolled his eyes. "I'll turn around if you want me to, but I'm not leaving here till you play at least one song."

Mike stared at him, to try and call his bluff, but there wasn't one.

"Turn around." Mike demanded.

Harvey chuckled softly, but did so anyway. He waited for about three minutes before he heard Mike begin to play. He turned around, unbeknownst to Mike and watched the younger man move his bow back and forth across the strings, playing music that his grandmother would have loved, that Mike should not be ashamed of and music that Harvey was proud of.

The music would never bring his grandmother back to him, but in some way, note by note, beat by beat it brought Michael back to Harvey. Despair was being chased away by the music, the music Mike now played _for_her. The music contained his relationship with his grandmother, kept her spirit inside of music answered Mike's first question to Harvey when he entered his apartment. The older man wasn't sure then, but he was certain now.

Harvey Specter was there to make sure his associate, his friend, his brother found a way back, back to a life where he could live, where he still had family and where he could still play music.

**AN: Not sure how I feel about this one. I wrote it on a depressing day, so I guess that says enough. The music I listened to while writing this is and what I imagined Mike to be playing is the Dead Island theme song. Let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading. **


	8. Father's Day

City lights glide across the tinted window glass like shooting stars in the night sky he finds himself doing his best to look at around the buildings of the concrete jungle Ray navigates the car through. He decides that it's not worth the crick in his neck and looks out towards the people on the sidewalk instead.

He fears the display of emotions of pedestrian faces, but after a few blocks he finds himself looking for just one that isn't buried in some sort of portable technology. The ache in his chest that he's been drowning out with the burn of liquor since he left the office intensifies and he downs the next shot before he realizes he's ever poured it. He stares at the glass, twisting it in his fingers before the absurdity of drinking his feelings away catches up to him. With a heavy sigh, he sets the shot glass down and picks up the files discarded in the seat next to him.

He scans it over, impressed by the mind that's written it, by the work that's been put into it and by the glitch only someone with a heart half on their sleeve could catch.

He looks back out the window, catching the entrance to Yankee Stadium as they drive by, not missing the pairs of fathers and sons wandering around out front. For a reason he won't admit to, he looks to his driver, "Ray...", and can't seem to finish the sentence that's disoriented on his tongue.

"Of course, Harvey."

The lawyer sets his jaw and turns his attention back to the city outside of his car window just in time to see Ray direct the car in an opposite direction of his home, while he reminds himself to either scold or praise Donna for knowing him all to well.

Minutes pass before the car rolls delicately to a stop outside the cemetery, and Harvey can't bring himself to exit right away, but a small prompting from his driver has him collecting two shot glasses and the bottle of scotch before he can even make up his mind.

He opens the door, places one leg out and says, "Thanks Ray," before getting out completely.

"Would you like me to wait?" Ray asks, ignoring the gratitude that wasn't needed.

Harvey ducks back down offering only a rise of the corner of his mouth and a shake of his head. "Go enjoy the rest of your Father's Day with your kids," he says and closes the door, not even hearing the tires in the small gravel as it pulls off while he makes his way into the cemetery.

It doesn't take him long to find the one he's looking for, but not because he's been here several times before. In fact, he's never been here at all, but a skinny clad kid stands languidly in front of a slightly aged gravestone and he knows he doesn't have to search.

He walks up behind the kid, purposefully knocking the shot glasses in his left hand with the bottle in his right to bring the guy out of whatever head space he's in. He notices the red-rimmed eyes turned towards him before the kid can even wipe the emotions away from them with one quick swipe of his hand. His cheeks gain a slight flush, his ears much more, but Harvey cuts off the stuttered rambling before it even starts by placing the two shot glasses on the headstone and pouring scotch into them.

Placing the bottle down, he glances at his associate and picks the two shot glasses up, handing one to Mike and keeping the other for himself. He lifts his own halfway between them, waiting for the younger man to do the same so their glasses will clink together.

"To fathers." Mike says, taking his eyes off his father's grave to stare at his own shot before glancing up at Harvey and holding his glass out. He notices his boss recoil his scotch half an inch and cock his head to the side slightly with a look Mike has only seen once when he told Harvey his grandmother had died at his apartment door and his boss had just replied, "I know."

Harvey looks at him a moment, then down at the waiting scotch in his glass, giving it a twirl. He raises his head back up and holds his glass out once more, nodding his head towards Mike with indication.

"To brothers."

Mike's physically hesitant to commit to such a toast, but a smirk, that's usually followed by something along the lines of, 'You care', that Harvey's humorously used to, shows that Mike's heart is already in it.

Harvey quirks an eyebrow, ready for his associate to do something worthy of mocking and waits with a half smirk of his own.

"You really take the phrase "over my dead body" to whole other level with this caring thing." He says, and Harvey can finally let his eyes do the roll they've been anticipating from the start.

"I'm drinking my scotch." Harvey replies, taking his glass away from the offered toast, doing it slowly because he knows Mike will instantly commit to it now.

"Woah, woah!" He holds his hand out to the side in a gesture of surrender and extends his glass once more. "To brothers."

Harvey smirks again and knocks his shot into Mike's before both down their own in one swig, riding out the burn in unison before laughing at it all.

Mike looks at his empty glass longingly. "Not to be morbid, but if you're planning on visiting your father's grave with that scotch, I want to come," he chuckles, until he glances up at Harvey's 'Really?' expression. "Well, you know, for support...and everything...like...you did...for me." Mike staggers in characteristic awkwardness.

Harvey's eyes roll again, but the smirk remains. He shakes his head for good measure while taking the shot glass from Mike's hand and picking up the bottle of scotch from the headstone.

"Come on." He orders, heading towards the exit.

"Where are we going?" He hears Mike ask, already trying to catch up.

"Well, I got to thinking we never carried out our plan of pissing in Louis' office when we were high, so I thought we could finish this bottle and follow through." Harvey chuckles, and listens to Mike's excited mantra of 'Oh my God's and 'Hell yes's while he hails them cab.

And if Louis walks in Monday morning to a urinated office and a broken glass wall that definitely wasn't broken in the process of a ninth inning walk-off home run in a game of Specter vs. Ross office baseball, then Harvey at least had an accomplice to share the glory with and a little brother to pin it on when Jessica started asking questions.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.<strong>


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